Prelude
by Muse360
Summary: Thor hits the top of the Stark Tower so hard that it sets off JARVIS' defense protocols. Tony is the first to notice the tears flowing down the God's face. After having some breakfast tacos with his team, Thor finally confesses what's wrong and it is MUCH worse than anyone could've thought! Rated T for *Mythological stuff* THIS IS NOT A THORKI FIC! REVISING IN PROGRESS...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1  
>AN  
>New series, got rid of the old one. I also have a beta :)<br>I pray that y'all didn't get the stomach bug that I did, because it sucked.**

**Stark Tower: 12:10am**

The tower was silent, minus the soft hum of Tony's phone charging in the wall. JARVIS would know to disconnect it as soon as it was at 100%. All the avengers were sleeping except for Tony. Tony was almost never asleep at night, he took long naps during the day as needed, and then stayed up all night working in his lab, he felt like his best work was done at night.

The peace was interrupted by a loud crash on the roof that sent JARVIS into an automatic defense protocol in which he set up a complex system of weapons that Tony could manually control from wherever he was at.

Captain America was the first into the living room, his shield attached to his arm. "Tony! What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know," the genius said as he came running up from the lab, "but he knocked out my security cameras and my defense system." As he stepped outside, JARVIS began piecing his suit to his body, and within a matter of seconds, Ironman flew up to the roof.

Tony saw a dark mass moving around, at the least 6'3. He didn't hesitate to knock the figure down and began holding him down, his suit taking multiple blows from the intruder.

"Tony! It is I!" A familiar voice yelled, coming from the man he had pinned to the ground.

"Thor?" The billionaire asked. "What the hell are you doing?"

Thor shoved Tony off of him. Standing to his feet, he wiped his cheek and sniffed. It was then that Tony realized that the god was crying.

"Whoa, Thor what is going on man?" Tony's mask lifted up. The philanthropist had never seen Thor cry before, and to him, it was scary.

"I cannot speak about it." He said, his voice thick.

"Is it Jane?" Tony asked.

The god shook his head.

Captain America and the rest finally made it up to the roof, part of the defense protocol was that JARVIS was forced to shut down all the elevators in the tower.

"Relax guys, it's just Thor." Tony announced.

The relief was profound on the avengers faces as they lowers their weapons.

"Did you have to make such a racket?" Bruce asked.

"Dude, Thor, what's wrong?" Hawkeye questioned, as he was the first of the others to notice the tears.

"I gave my word that I wouldn't speak about it." Thor replied.

It was quiet amongst the group until Tony said. "Well, I'm getting cold, how about we go inside, are you hungry Thor?"

"It's 12:30 Tony," Captain America pointed out.

"And?" Tony glanced over at the soldier. "Anytime can be food time."

Natasha rolled her eyes, "Yeah well I'm going to bed."

"No, we're going to eat breakfast with Thor." The billionaire argued, silently telling Natasha that he was determined to find out what was wrong with the sorrowful god.

"отлично." (fine) Natasha mumbled.

* * *

><p>An awkward silence hung in the air as Tony made his "world famous" breakfast tacos.<p>

"Do you like hot sauce?" Tony asked.

Thor nodded, half smiling. Probably remembering the "wings from hell" challenge he won at a wing restaurant downtown.

The avengers are silently as Thor poured half the bottle of Tabasco sauce on his breakfast taco.

"So, that earthquake in San Francisco huh?" Tony started, trying to start conversation.

"Yeah, that was pretty wild." Hawkeye agreed smirking. "Did you see the Trans America building swaying side to side like that?"

"Yeah that was scary." Captain America nodded. "I was glad it was just and earthquake and nothing we needed to be called in for."

"I'm just glad she's alright." Tony mumbled.

"Who?" Natasha asked.

"Someone you've met, just don't remember." Tony sat down with his breakfast taco.

Natasha dismissed it as some strange thought Tony had conjured up in that cluttered mind of his and kept eating.

"So Thor, how's Asgard? Have you guys fixed up everything yet? I heard the dark elves made a HUGE mess. I also heard about how your awful piloting skills contributed to that too." Tony began.

Steve elbowed him, earning a grunt and a whiny "ow" from the billionaire'a mouth.

"We're working very hard to restore Asgard to it's former glory, although we've recently come across a couple of...problems." Thor stated.

"What kind of problems?" Bruce asked, genuinely curious to what could possibly halt Asgard's restoration.

"Some family issues." He continued. "I can say no more."

"Why not?" Steve asked. "We won't tell anyone, right Tony?"

"Of course not," Tony agreed, ignoring the emphasis Cap made on his name. "You can always come to us, we're your family too, Thor."

The God smiled at the word family. For his had been corrupt for many years and now with his mother gone, he felt like he couldn't go to anyone. Especially not his father with the situation, there was no way to tell what he would do. He couldn't tell Sif, or Fandral, or Hogun, or Volstagg either. He felt completely alone, especially after the fight that erupted into a 3 day breakup between he and Jane.

"Thor," Natasha called softly. The god then realized that he had been staring off into space.

"If I tell you," Thor began, "than you must give me your word that you won't tell a single soul in the nine realms."

All the Avengers nodded respectfully.

"Alright then," he started. "First, Loki is alive."

A wave of confusion washed over the table.

"I thought he died on Svartalfheim." Hawkeye stated, feeling the dread as he heard "Loki" and "alive" used in the same sentence.

"As did I until he came to me one night." Thor said, "but that's not the worst of it."

"Then what is?" Hawkeye asked, not quite sure if he really wanted to hear the rest of it.

The team watched as Thor did his best to keep in the tears until eventually he couldn't anymore and they spilled down his cheeks.

"He is pregnant."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N  
><strong>Well, valentines day is almost here so I'll put some feels into this chapter ha ha ❤️❤️❤️...prepare yourself.<strong>

**Stark Tower: 2:10am**

"Pregnant?" Clint Barton asked. "Thor, I know it's late-well early, but guys can't get pregnant."

"Well Loki is pregnant, he told me and I saw proof." Thor argued.

"Actually," Tony began. "According to Norse mythology, Loki had an eight legged horse baby."

"That never happened." Thor stated, I've lived with him all my life, he's never had a baby before."

"Has _any_ guy you know had a baby before?" Clint continued.

Thor laughed. "Yes, plenty."

"How does that even happen?" Steve asked. "There has to be a man and a woman to make a baby."

"Not in my realms." Thor stated.

"So what you're telling us is that Loki had...fun...with another guy and now he's pregnant?" Clint asked.

"No, it's more complicated than that. Loki is still pure in that way, but it seems as if the heavens have given him the baby. The healers cannot figure it out. On earth, you have two sets of chromosomes that mix together, it is the same on Asgard, but he has his chromosomes and a set of other chromosomes that have never been seen before." Thor sighed. "So we don't know."

"That is _strange_." Tony said. "But I guess pregnant gods is more of the norm in mythology than it is on what you guys call "Midgard." Tony announced.

"Um have _you_ ever heard of a pregnant guy before, Tony?" Steve asked.

"There was that one guy in the magazine..." Tony started.

"That one guy had a sex change Tony," Bruce mused. "He was asking for it."

"So how does this affect you? It's _Loki_, so what if he's having a baby?" Natasha crossed her arms.

"The rule is, whichever prince has a heir first, is the one who gets to take the throne after his father or uncle." Thor announced. "And he is in a lot of pain. It hurts me to see him like that."

"So if you die. Loki's kid takes the throne?" Tony clarified.

"Yes, if it's a male." Thor nodded.

"That sucks." Clint yawned. "If the baby is anything like Loki, you're gonna have an issue."

Thor was quiet for a moment, silently fuming about how he always had to hear his team complain about his brother. Perhaps of they had gotten to know him before New York, they would understand that the Chitauri gave him no choice. He wish he had known that before Loki had gotten thrown into prison.

"Look, man." Tony sighed. "I know that you hate it when we talk crap about your little bro, but he killed over a thousand people...on our planet. All because he wanted power."

Thor scoffed. "It was not about power, Tony." Thor shifted in his seat. "It was all Thanos, he told Loki to take earth or he'd kill my mother, the only person that Loki ever truly loved. And Loki failed, so he led Jane to find the Aether which in turn woke Malekith. Then it was just a chain reaction, he knew I'd bring Jane to Asgard, and he knew Malekith would follow, and my mother would try to defend herself." Thor was clearly holding back more tears. "Thanos knew that the dark elves would kill her, so he got what he wanted."

It was silent for a couple of minutes, so quiet in fact, you could hear the clock ticking on the wall and Thor's clipped breaths.

"I'm sorry, Thor." Steve spoke at last. "We didn't know."

"_I_ didn't know, my friend. If I had just listened to Loki instead of yelling and trying to reprimand him for what he'd done, I could've stopped this, and my mother would still be alive." Thor swallowed hard.

"So what are we going to do about Loki?" Natasha asked. "How pregnant is he?"

"He could give birth any time next week." The god answered.

"Now how is a dude gonna give birth?" Tony asked. "There's no opening!"

Thor half smiled. "Once upon a time, there were only male Gods. The creator saw this and wasn't happy, so he allowed males to give birth, it is strange, I know, but that's the way it is where I'm from."

Clint attempted to keep down his food at the thought of it. "And what's so awful about telling everyone?"

"Thanos will kill Loki and the baby if he finds out, and that is why I must bring him here."

* * *

><p><strong><span>Stark Tower: 10am:<span>**

Tony Stark had not gotten any sleep for almost 24 hours. He had been working relentlessly on updating his suit. So Natasha stood guard as Tony passed out on the couch. The Black Widow was on edge, Thor had gone to Asgard to get Loki, and she was scared that perhaps something would happen to Barton again.

* * *

><p>Loki slept on his back, a little upright at that, trying to relieve the pressure of the pregnancy. As soon as Thor entered the room, he opened his eyes.<p>

"What did they say, Thor?" The younger God asked, almost whispering because he felt so weak. It was almost as if all the energy had been drained from him.

"They were reluctant at first, but they agreed to let you come to Earth and stay with them." Thor sat on the edge.

Loki moved to sit up, groaning as he did. He sighed and put a hand on his swollen belly, closing his eyes and resting his head against the headboard.

Thor held his brother's hand lovingly. "Oh, Loki." He sighed. Pushing some hair out of his brother'a face he said. "You are so pale."

"This parasite is sucking all the energy out of my body." Loki joked, half smiling at that. "I'm glad you came."

"I had to come get you," Thor kissed Loki's head. "You know I'd never leave you here alone."

The baby kicked, making Loki jump a little. Thor softly put his hand on his brother's belly and smiled as he felt another thump.

"The baby will be beautiful Loki, whether he is of Jotun descent or not."

Loki chuckled. "I certainly hope you are right."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N  
><strong>So much downtime...well I'd like to that I my Beta who is such an inspiration to me! pallyndrome, I would advise reading the whole thing because you could be missing information, but thanks for reviewing ;) Prepare for a HUGE bomb!<strong>

**Asgard:**

Thor helped Loki out of bed, putting a sturdy arm around him as they walked. Loki still had his hand on his belly, feeling even more protective of his child as they crossed the bridge and approached the Bifrost room. Heimdall, the gate keeper and the only other person who knew about Loki's pregnancy, nodded as Thor motioned for him to open the portal.

Loki held on tight to Thor as they were whisked away to Midgard.

Almost afraid to open his eyes when they landed, Loki asked. "What if this is just a plot to kill me?" Thor held his brother tighter.

"No Loki, I would never put you in such a situation. In fact, they are just as curious as I am about your pregnancy."

"As curious as almost all of the healers in the njne realms?" Loki raised an eyebrows. "I don't want them doing tests on me Thor! I will not be a lab rat for some Midgardian scums who-"

"Listen to yourself brother. I know you are still upset about what happened, how they didn't understand your plea for help, I get it Loki, but you cannot act this way. We are their guests and they are allowing us to stay until the baby is born."

"Fine," Loki huffed. "I'll behave." Although he wasn't sure how much he would be able to take before snapping.

As they entered the tower, Tony woke up, snapping his head up from the couch. "Bruce!" He called, his voice groggy. The billionaire jumped up and stretched. "Hey Reindeer games, long time no see. How's the baby?"

Natasha still stood there, arms crossed and putting on her poker face, not showing any emotion at all. She caught his eyes and was able to see remorse, and lots and lots of hurt still bottled up inside him. He didn't give off that cocky, know-it-all demeanor he had in the past.

"Fine." Loki said, unsure whether he should smile or not.

The rest of the Avengers made it in, just in time for there to be another wave of awkward silence.

"Look, Loki. We're sorry about your mother. If we had known, we could've helped you. You should have just told us rather than taking our country by storm." Captain America scratched the back of his head, something he did when he had to discuss a difficult subject.

Loki smiled slightly, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come. "It wasn't that easy." He explained. "They were listening to every word I said." He thought back to what the admiral had said. _You think you know pain? He will make you long for something as sweet as pain._

The thought made Loki dizzy, he grabbed Thor's arm and exhaled. "Thor." He said.

"Loki, are you okay?" Thor held him tighter.

"I need to sit down." Loki told him.

Thor helped him to the couch and sat him down.

"Wow." Clint stated. "You really are pregnant aren't you?"

Thor nodded. Loki could feel a migraine coming on, it happened usually when he was stressed out. "Unfortunately, yes." He replied.

"Loki, as scientists, we would kinda like to see what's going on inside of you." Tony began. "Is that cool with you?"

A look of mortification swept over Loki's face. "You're going to cut me open?!" He grabbed Thor's shirt. "No that is not 'cool' with me!"

"No, no. We are going to use ultrasound. It's like an X-ray device. Like the quantum stuff you use on Asgard. It won't harm you OR the baby." Tony explained. "Look, if Asgard can't figure out what's going on with you, maybe we can, but you have to let us try."

Loki looked up at Thor who nodded, "It's for the best, brother."

But that was the same thing Thor had said at Loki's trial after New York, when they threw him in prison. He had a feeling that they were going to find something awful.

* * *

><p>It seemed as if Tony had a whole hospital upstairs. Every scary looking medical equipment you could think of was up there, and Loki was as nauseous as ever. He was still gripping Thor tightly and looking as if he were about to be sick.<p>

Tony and Bruce (who was surprisingly taking Loki's presence very well) had him lay down on a hospital bed.

Loki was shaking uncontrollably, he had never felt so out of control in his life. He didn't ask to be Jotun, he didn't ask to be hated by everyone, and he didn't ask for this baby.

Steve Rogers saw this discomfort, "Loki, it's okay. We're not going to hurt you."

Loki didn't believe him, the first man to interrupt his reign in Germany...

Tony lifted his loose green shirt up, exposing his pregnant belly and rubbed some cold clear gel on it. Loki was shaking so hard that it was making his headache and nausea worse.

"Loki...please." Thor slipped his hand into his brother's tangling their fingers together.

Then Tony put some portable remote-looking thing to his stomach and turned on the TV next to him. Loki could make out a figure as Tony rubbed the ultrasound device around his belly.

"What is that?" Loki asked, feeling his breath become shorter and shorter.

"That's your baby." Tony replied.

"It looks like a little Midgardian!" He exclaimed. And then his heart sank as he saw the rings around the baby's little wrist and ankles. The rings were a Jotun trait. "The rings..."

"Yeah what are those?" Bruce asked.

"It's a trait we carry from Jotunheim." Loki explained. "Just like Scottish race of Midgard have red hair."

"Oh my God! I can see his eye color!" Bruce squinted at the screen. "Purple. Is that a Jotun trait too?"

Loki froze, absolutely horrified. Purple was not a trait for eye color, red was.

"No, there is only one being in the universe with purple eyes." Loki almost whispered.

"Well I guess that explains the chromosome mix up, whoever has the gene for purple eyes, is the father." Tony shrugged.

"Who would have that gene Loki?" Thor asked.

Loki felt tears run down his cheeks as he closed his eyes and tried to stay in control.

"Thanos. Thanos is the father."

* * *

><p><strong>So how was that for shocking? The most powerful being in the universe...the father. Should I keep going? Or is this already going south because I feel like it is : Please Review, so I know what y'all think :)**

**-Muse360**


	4. Chapter 4

A/N  
><strong>PLEASE READ THIS!<br>So it's my understanding that y'all would like to know whether the baby is a boy or a girl. Well, you'll have to find out for yourself. Major feels in this one too...DO NOT SKIM THIS CHAPTER! THERE IS SOME VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION IN HERE FOR LATER...and just wanted to remind everyone that THIS IS NOT A THORKI FIC, they are brothers and it will remain that way. Hopefully through context you can conclude that they have gotten much closer, sorry for all the confusion. Please enjoy ;)  
>-Muse360<strong>

"Loki." Thor whispered.

It had finally come to light, Loki knew how something like this could have happened. He felt a sickening twist in his stomach at the thought of Thanos, and for a moment, he thought he was going to be sick.

"Everyone out." Thor ordered. "I need a word with my brother alone."

Tony gently wiped the gel off of Loki's belly and allowed him to sit up. "We're out here if you need us." He said as he left the med lab.

When the door closed. Thor crossed his arms. "What the hell happened?"

Loki pushed some messy hair out of his face. To Thor, Loki looked just the way he had in prison, just pregnant.

"Remember when the council of Asgard and father sent me to the Chitauri to 'make amends'?" Loki looked dead into his brothers electric blue eyes. "And I begged you to let me stay on Asgard. I begged you to try to change fathers mind and all you said was, "This is the way it must be." Loki took a shaky breath. "Well the Chitauri set me up, they took me straight to Thanos. He threw me into prison and beat me until I could feel no more..." Loki swallowed hard, "and he abused me in so many ways..." The younger god shivered and put a hand on his stomach, almost as if he was trying to find comfort from his unborn child. "Some of which I was conscious for, and some of which I was not. He must have..." Loki began to cry, angry tears and tears of betrayal. He couldn't even say the word.

Thor was crying too, feeling as helpless as ever. How could he have been so stupid? He should have gone with Loki, but his own ignorance got in the way. He thought he was doing right. Thor sat down next to Loki and cradled him in his arms, letting his tears get lost in the thick black hair that he was resting his head upon. It all made sense now. If this baby was a boy, there's no doubt Thanos would come for him.

* * *

><p>Tony Stark stared out the window trying to take it all in. Thanos. The name sounded so powerful it almost sent shivers down his spine. He wondered how he'd even gotten caught up in something like this in the first place. "There's more than meets the eye with these gods, there's ALWAYS more." He thought, even from the moment Thor crashed in Arizona.<p>

"We're gonna need help." Clint said almost emotionless, like he already knew their fate.

"Yep." Tony sighed and ran some fingers through his hair, "And I know just who to ask."

Captain America looked over at Tony, surprised that he may actually be of help this time. "Who?"

"Well since we're in a pretty desperate situation and we can't tell Fury about it, I guess this would be a good time to tell you that I have a daughter."

Silence.

"I know I should be surprised, but I'm not." Steve sighed. "Leave it to Tony Stark to keep a secret that huge from his team."

"What?!" Clint exclaimed. "How old is she? Where does she live? Does she look like you? Better yet, does she act like you?"

"She's 22, she's head of SHIELD west coast. San Francisco, to be exact. You may have heard of her. Assistant Director Cypra Fury. Nick Fury's niece."

More silence.

"So that's who he was worried about." Natasha thought.

"How can she be your daughter and his niece?" Bruce asked, unless there was some kinky stuff going on..."

"No, I used I baby sit her when she was little. When she turned six, her mom died, KIA Air Force. Her dad trains the SEALs and her three brothers are NSA, Navy, and Marines special forces. So with nobody to take care of her, I took her in at 18. Okay? Fury couldn't, he was SHIELD and so was Coulson. I raised her until she was old enough to work for SHIELD and support herself. Then Fury sent her to California to command the base there." Tony sighed. "She's a very smart girl, helped me design the earliest of my suits, and she's been to Thor's realms, she's met Thanos and she knows Loki, so maybe she can help us. I she comes, she'll call me daddy. She always has, if that freaks you out, I'm sorry."

"Thor, did you know about this?" Captain looked over at the god who had his arm around his little brother.

"I am afraid so." He said solemnly. "Tony made me promise not to tell."

Loki smiled. "She's beautiful, she was the only one besides Frigga who understood me." Then the smile faded. "But she doesn't know how much I love her, and I doubt she loves me back." Loki thought to himself.

"I'll call her." Tony got up, "Fury's gonna be suspicious as all hell though, he can't know about Loki being here or we're gonna et charged with aiding and abetting a galactic terrorist. And something else you should know about her. She's an oh'84."

"A super?" Bruce asked as he left the room.

"What's an oh' eighty four?" Loki questioned curiously.

"SHIELD talk for an unknown being or object, like Thor's hammer was when we found it." Bruce explained. "Usually if you are a living person with the 084 digits stamped next to your name, you're a super, like you and Thor."

"She is special." Loki commented. "And very powerful at that."

"What does she do?" Hawkeye asked.

"Pray that you never find out." He warned.

* * *

><p><strong><span>Five Days later: SHIELD facility: Classified location<span>**

Cypra stepped out of the helicopter with her uncle by her side, the wind from the blades ruffling her hair.

"So why does Tony want to see you again?" Nick Fury asked his already worried niece.

"He needs help with some tech he's working on for SHIELD." She lied, trying to yell over the noise.

"What kind of tech?"

"You'll see when he's finished." She beamed. Then she saw him. She ran over to him and threw her arms around the billionaire.

"Hi daddy!"

Tony chuckled, holding her tightly. "Hi honey. Look at you! All big and beautiful." He kissed her forehead. "Man, how long has it been? Three years?"

"Almost four." She nodded. "It's been a long time, dad."

The avengers behind her, minus Natasha, all gawked at her beauty.

"Great!" Hawkeye griped. "She's hot! Guess I can say goodbye to sleep and attention span."

Captain America, trying to be modest just smiled. "She is beautiful, I'll give her that."

Bruce just laughed, knowing nothing would come out his infatuation with her, so he should just stop.

Natasha stood arms crossed even tighter, she did know that face from somewhere, just like Tony had said she would at the table. It was an op, in Russia, Novosibirsk to be exact.

After greeting everyone, Cypra smiled and said, "Наталья, это было давно. где Алексей, когда вы нуждаетесь в нем?" (Hi Natalia, it's been a long time. Where's Alexi when you need him?)

She smiled, a genuine smile, remembering the op. "может быть, он в своей матери подвале, где мы нашли ему в последний раз." (Maybe he is in his mothers basement where we found him last time)

Cypra laughed, a beautiful sound to Tony's ears, "возможно." (perhaps) She shrugged.

* * *

><p><strong><span>Stark Tower: 11pm:<span>**

"Loki." Cypra wrapped her arms around him and rested her head in his shoulders. "I don't even know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything." He replied as he returned the tight embrace, careful not to squeeze her too hard.

The young lady put her hands on his belly and smiled. "This is so amazing!" She said in awe. "Even if it is from Thanos."

He covered her hands with his, not even jumping this time when the baby kicked.  
>She giggled at the thump.<p>

"Okay Cypra, what can you tell us about Thanos?" Bruce asked.

Not taking her hands off Loki's swollen stomach she answered. "Well other than being a tyrant he is very skilled with magic and combat. He is very tricky, manipulative and cunning. At some points, he can even be charming." She rubbed her hand over Loki's belly staring off into space. "He's just...insanely intelligent. Almost a clairvoyant. He knows exactly what will happen. When he kept me, he told me all about my life and things that I didn't even know about myself. He revealed some stuff from my past that just all made sense after I pieced the events together like a puzzle." She met Bruce's eyes. "He's the definition of evil, and he will get what he wants, when he wants it."

* * *

><p><strong><span>Midnight: Stark Tower:<span>**

Loki awoke in a cold sweat next to his brother, feeling like someone was beating him in the stomach with his scepter. He assumed that it was another contraction and tried to fall back asleep, but within 30 minutes, the pain reached almost unbearable.

"Thor." Loki poked his brother, who awoke rather abruptly.

"What? What is it brother, are you okay?" He asked.

"No," Loki squeaked out. "The pain."

"Is this another contraction?"

Loki shook his head, "Not for half an hour."

"You are going into labour!" Thor exclaimed and jumped out of bed. "Wait here! I will get Tony."

"Where am I going to go Thor? Honestly?!" Loki half yelled as Thor ran out I the room. He could be such a moron sometimes.

Tony and Bruce came rushing in. "Loki? Can you stand?" Bruce asked.

The younger god tried, but it was no use, he was in too much pain to even attempt getting up. He shook his head.

"Well if you can't go to the med lab, I guess the med lab is coming to you." Tony rushed upstairs. "Get him ready Bruce!"

As Bruce and Thor prepared Loki for childbirth, Tony woke the rest of the rest of the team and made them grab all the medical equipment he needed. The only thing they were missing was an epidural which was going to suck on Loki's end.

Cypra attempted to stay calm as Loki cried out in pain and took shaky breaths as he pushed continuously for forty five minutes. Colors spotted Loki's vision and made it difficult for him to see what was going on. Thor was at his side, squeezing his hand and speaking comforting words, soothing Loki's panic.

Suddenly, Loki felt the relief of an enormous pressure and closed his eyes. A fee moments later he heard a cry, the cry of a baby. He smiled then began sobbing. "Thor?" He looked over at his brother.

"You did it," Thor moved hair out of Loki's face as he did so often. He too had tears in his eyes. "Congratulations."

Cypra was bawling at this point, and Natasha was holding her and trying to soothe her as her sobs echoed through the room. When she realized that Loki was okay she nearly threw herself on top of him and cried harder. Loki put a hand on her back and kissed her temple. "I'm okay love."

At that moment Tony had the baby cleaned and wrapped in a soft cloth and handed the half confused, half exhausted bundle of joy to Loki. He looked a little distressed though.

Thor and Loki marveled at the small being, until Loki said something to Thor in Norse.

The room got extremely quiet.

"What's wrong?" Cypra asked, tears still running down her cheeks.

"It's a boy." Loki announced.

* * *

><p><strong>How was that for exciting? Don't forget to review and please DO NOT SKIM the fic, that is disrespectful to the author who spent a lot of time writing it and on top of that, you're missing valuable information. :) <strong>

**Thanks!**

**-Muse360**


	5. Chapter 5

**ALRIGHT GUYS, My mentor (nako13yeh) is suggesting a re-write so that's what I'm doing. Thank you Nako for your CONSTRUCTIVE criticism... **

-**Muse360**

**Stark Tower: 2:00pm: **

The baby named Leiknir cooed as Loki held him, yawning and opening his violet eyes, then closing them as he drifted off to sleep. The god of mischief smiled and kissed his child gently on the head.

"He is marvelous is he not?" Thor asked softly as he came up behind Loki.

"He is beautiful." Loki replied.

Thor gently touched the baby's small hand with his finger. "He is tiny." the god of thunder chuckled.

"As was I when I was a baby." Loki sighed, suppressing the anger he felt towards Laufey.

Silence hung in the air between the brothers, a suffocating, heavy silence. One that brought nothing but dread to both of them.

"He will kill me and take the baby won't he?" Loki spoke, his voice nearly breaking as he thought of how his son would grow up; how he would never see him again. Perhaps Leiknir would turn out to be the monster Thanos was, or even worse; the monster Loki had turned into.

"No brother." Thor shook his head. "I and all of Asgard will make sure that nothing happens to you, or their future king." He tangled his fingers in some of Loki's hair. "That I promise you."

"Thanos will find a way, he always has." Loki spat. "Look what he did to mother, how brilliantly planned that was!"

"Perhaps he doesn't know." His brother began.

"Thor, this is Thanos. He knows everything, every small detail. That's how he was able to kill mother the way he did. That's how he led Jane to waking up Malekith; this life of ours is just a playing field for him!" The younger god argued.

"We can find a way-"

"No! We can't. This isn't just some petty threat we can stop with a hammer like most. This is the most intelligent being in the universe. I'd dare say even smarter than Odin himself." Loki explained.

"Why are you giving up so easy brother?" Thor asked. "We haven't even _tried_ yet!"

Loki laughed bitterly. "Can't you see Thor? Or is your ego getting in the way of your common sense again? We _can't_ stop him." He paused for a moment. "You should know that when he was holding me prisoner, he made me see things within myself that even Jotunheim wouldn't be proud of. He showed me just how truly powerless I was. So I stopped trying. My efforts are futile, just as yours will be."

* * *

><p>"Well this sucks." Cypra sighed as she stared at the puddle of apple juice on the floor.<p>

"Clean it up!" Tony urged, "It'll get sticky if you leave it on the floor."

Cypra stared eerily into space.

"Cypra?" Natasha waved her hand in front of her face. "Tony, what's going on?" By the unnerved look on Tony's face, The Black Widow knew it must be something bad.

"She's slipping." He replied. "Cypra?" He gently rocked her shoulder side to side.

"Slipping?" Steve Rogers asked. "What do you mean by 'slipping'?"

Cypra blinked abruptly and took a deep breath, like she hadn't been able to breathe for a few minutes. She slid down the wall into a sitting position gasping for breath, tears brimming in her eyes."

"Honey it's okay." Tony soothed, sitting behind her. "You're alright."

The young adult Cypra began crying and rocking side to side. "No it's not." She took another deep breath. "I heard him."

"Heard who?" Tony asked.

"The man! The man that tells me things will happen!" She exclaimed. "He told me that I had to protect Leiknir."

Silence.

"Tony." Cypra began with a miserable voice. "Thanos has his plan ready, but I think I can interfere long enough for Thor and Loki to come up with something. I don't want Loki to die! I don't want to explain to Leiknir what happened to him!"

"Cypra, nothing is going to happen, you're paranoid." Hawkeye told her, although he sounded just as unsure as she did.

Cypra shot him a look. "I've gotten out of a lot of trouble with his voice. He is my second conscience, that's why they label me as a clairvoyant."

Tony pulled his adopted daughter to her feet. "Honey, go sit down in the living room, I'll be there in a moment okay?"

She nodded and casually swept her hair out of her face, she made no eye contact with anyone as she left the room.

"What the hell was _that_ about?" Bruce questioned. "Look Tony, I remember you and Loki saying that she was special; not mental."

Tony gave Bruce a look that could have broken glass. "She's not _mental_." He said calmly, clearly suppressing the anger that threatened to come out in words. "She is an 084, she is unique, just like _you_." He softened his look. "She has been able to do this since she was very little. This 'man' she speaks about told her that her mother was going to die before it happened, same thing with her sister's death."

"There has to be a way to work around this." Steve spoke up. "I mean just because a voice in Cypra's head tells her that things are going to happen-"

"We have to get to know Thanos before any of this!" Natasha interrupted. "A guy as powerful as he sounds has to have a plan."

"And how do you suppose we 'get to know him' Natasha?" Clint Barton asked. "This isn't one of your stupid 'think I'm badass' ex-boyfriends that I can shoot with an arrow! This is a galactic threat that's probably as old as Odin if not older!"

"Plus, having this come out of mythology, there's probably magic involved. We're science people, not magicians* this is going to be hard!" Bruce said.

"That's not even the worst of it." Tony said quietly, but loud enough for Cap to hear.

"Then what's the worst of it?" The soldier asked.

"That voice Cypra hears…is never wrong."

* * *

><p><strong>*Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner) plays a part in <span>"Now you see me" <span> A movie that has lots to do with magic and magicians :)**

**Please review, sorry for the wait, I'll do my best to post consistently! -Muse360**


	6. Chapter 6

**Well I'm getting back in the game, editing; revising the plot and character structures, hope y'all are less confused this time around and thank you again Nako, for the fan art! I put it as the picture for this story! 3 more days of school!**

* * *

><p>Cypra was quiet as the team sat down for dinner. Loki, on Tony's orders, was forbidden to move for at least a day to prevent any further tearing of tissue or injury to his back. Thor, of course, wouldn't leave his side. Every now and then, you could hear Thor's footsteps upstairs as he moved about, retrieving things like food or water for his brother.<p>

"Cypra." Tony called softly.

She realized that she had been staring at her food for some time without eating; she didn't really have an appetite for dinner. The director looked up, "Yeah?" Her voice was groggy from not speaking for so long and a lump in her throat from crying had formed; forbidding her from swallowing.

"Are you going to eat?"

"I'm not really hungry." She replied truthfully. "I just-I want to sleep Tony."

"Okay." Tony nodded. "Fair enough, just put your plate in the fridge."

She nodded, awkwardly standing up, ignoring the many pairs of eyes that had drifted towards her as she put her plate up and silently left the room."

"How long has it been since she had an incident like that?" Bruce asked.

"Years." Tony replied. "That was the worst panic attack I've seen in seven years from her."

"There has to be a way we can stop Thanos." Steve proposed as he put down his fork in frustration. "We've had Svartalfheim, The Chitauri, Lorelei; I think we can handle this."

"There _has_ to be a weakness." Clint agreed. "There has to be something that can stop Thanos, if someone or something can create him, there has to be a way to stop him."

"I'm glad you said that." Tony began. "I was in my library a couple of hours ago reading something about this stone. They call it the 'everstone' or 'eilíftsteinn.' It actually translates to 'eternal stone' but whatever, they say that this stone has enough power to freeze Thanos forever, or until someone finds a way to unfreeze him."

"How?" Bruce asked.

"Mixture of hydrogen, nitrogen and a paralytic substance called skïlium-"

"No, how do you use the stone." Clint corrected.

"Just touch him with it." Tony shrugged. "Throw it at him; as soon as it touches his bare skin, he's a goner."

"Bare skin?" Steve asked.

"Yeah it won't go through anything else."

"How do we find it?" Natasha put her wine glass down.

"You see, that's the issue." Tony sighed. "It's on a planet called 'Jotunheim'; it's been lost for thousands of years."

"Great." Bruce exhaled. "Can we trace a signature?"

"Inter-realm-ly." Tony stumbled on the correct term. "Maybe, we'd need a portal, and the Tesseract."

"Hell no!" Clint exclaimed. "We are NOT going back there again. Do you know what –', he lowered his voice in fear of Loki over hearing him upstairs and leaned forward. "Do you know how Loki got into my mind with that thing?"

"Not sure if I want to." Tony replied casually.

Hawkeye ignored him and kept talking. "He infused it into my brain cells, shutting down every single memory I had and replacing it with another. He saw everything that had ever happened to me and used it against me. He knows my weaknesses now; he knows how to manipulate my every thought. If he turns; if he tries to get revenge-"

"-We'll stop him." Natasha interrupted. "We know how." She traced her bangs out of her face. "I'm not going to let it happen again Clint, do you remember what I said?"

The archer leaned back again and took a deep breath. "I remember."

"Then stop worrying, you'll be fine." She told him.

"I'm not worried about myself; I'm worried about everyone else. I wouldn't wish that kind of turmoil on my archenemy, Nat." He argued.

"I know." She looked him square in the eye. "Believe me, I know."

"How are we supposed to trace it?" Bruce asked, changing the intensifying topic.

"Alpha waves actually." Tony replied. "Surprisingly, it's safe to touch for us, just not for him and his species."

"Okay, how are we going to get the Tesseract?" Captain continued. "It's on Asgard."

"I'm sure Thor can sneak it out." Tony shrugged.

"Yeah and get blown to pieces by the destroyer." Cap shot back. "That thing guards it. Odin controls it."

"No, the Tesseract got moved to another location _because_ of what happened, we don't know where it is." Tony explained. "I guess Thor could ask the all-father if he could borrow it."

"I don't know, he's pretty protective over who gets to use it and for what." Natasha told him.

"Well Odin will understand won't he?"

* * *

><p>"No, and that is final Thor." The all-father stood to his feet. "After Loki's reprehensible actions with that power, I don't know <em>who<em> to trust with it."

"Have I ever betrayed your trust father?" Thor stood, arms crossed.

"Plenty of times." Odin replied. "With the Jotun war, the Svartalf war, the war I told you not to get involved with when you were six."

"I was _six_ father!" Thor argued. "I didn't know any better!"

"Yes you _did_." Odin argued back. "I told you clear as day not to take the queen's baby and you refused to listen, thus making matters worse." He concluded. "The answer is no Thor; I don't think Tony needs that much power for a…what did you call it? A' science experiment?'

"Yes father a very important one."

"No." Odin slammed the bottom of his staff to the floor loudly. "Guards, please escort my son out, I have some very important matters to attend to."

Thor pushed the guards away from him and walked out himself. Why couldn't his father just listen and trust him, he knew what he was doing and he knew it was for the good of the realms.

He marched angrily to the Bifrost, letting his cape billow in the wind as he crossed the bridge. He stepped into the chamber and to his surprise stood Sif and Fandral; with the Tesseract.

"How did you-?"

"No need to say hello." Fandral replied sarcastically.

"Heimdall told us what was happening." Sif began. "Why didn't you tell us? We could've helped?!"

"You mean the _guys_ could have helped, this isn't a matter to be dealt with by women." Fandral stated.

Sif elbowed him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. "I was kidding." He protested, out of breath.

"Look, I know I owe you an apology and a full explanation, but I need to save the realms first." Thor sighed. "Thank you."

"Oh it's alright! It was all me, Sif just stood and whined about how creepy it was in that room." Fandral told him.

"You ass!" Sif nailed him in the crotch. "_I _was the one who snuck in there and_ I _was the one who retrieved it! _You_ complained about the cold and the smell and the spiders!"

"I'm sorry." Fandral choked out, near tears with the pain she had inflicted upon him.

Thor just chucked and kissed her temple. "Thank you Sif." And with that, he stepped into the light, Tesseract in arms and braced himself for landing on Midgard.


	7. Chapter 7

Thunder rumbled overhead.

"Damn," Clint sighed. "I thought it wasn't gonna rain till Saturday." The storm clouds casted a reflection in his eyes as he stared upwards out the window.

"Guess not." Tony replied as he sat down with his computers and data processors. "Well, we need the rain."

The archer casually walked around the lab, "So, do you use _all _of your suits? Or are they just sentiments of your hard work and billions of dollars?"

"Just sentiments, mainly. They're all operational if I ever needed to use them though." Tony set his firewall to a SHIELD and HYDRA hack prevention protocol. There was no telling who was out there now after the fall of SHIELD.

Bruce, Cap and Natasha came in, all carrying a lab part that Tony needed to piece together to make a quantum generator.

"How long is this going to take?" Steve asked as he carefully set down the semi rusty part.

"If I work diligently with no interruptions and no breaks…." Tony looked at his watch. "Two days at the least."

"Two days of non-stop working?" Natasha scanned all the equations and blueprints Tony had up on his holo-screen.

"Relax; I went 72 hours without sleeping once." Tony took a sip of his Coke and rolled himself over to another table in his chair, grabbing a couple more parts and a welder. "I only hallucinated a tiny bit."

"You're not working non-stop for 48 hours Tony." Cap told him. "End of discussion."

"Well who else is gonna do it?"

"I called in Dr. Selvig to come work with us," Bruce announced. "He was hesitant with Loki being here, and he's a little…off, but he remembers a lot from when he built it during New York. He should be able to help us."

"Good." Tony nodded. "But what's the catch?"

"What catch?" Bruce leaned against the table.

"Oh come on, Brucy-" He began.

"-I told you not to call me that.-" The Hulk protested.

Tony kept talking, "There's always a catch; you're not honestly going to tell me that Selvig would help us without some kind of catch."

"Alright, fine. He said he'd only come if Thor was present at all times and Jane and Darcy came with him." Bruce confessed.

Tony groaned.

"It won't be _that_ bad." Clint reassured him. "Right Bruce?"

"Yeah, its gonna be _that_ bad. Think about it: A half crazy scientist, a know-it-all astrophysicist, who by the way is dating Thor, and her obnoxious should-be-blond assistant who doesn't know what 'shut the hell up' means!" Tony fumed. "All in my lab hovering over me and telling me what to do, suggesting useless things and telling me to turn down my rock music." He sunk into his chair, sighing after his rant.

"We don't have another choice." Natasha told him. "If Thanos is as powerful as Cypra is making him sound, I'll bet that he already knows about Leiknir, and he's probably already devised a plan."

"At this point, Tony, we're already working against the clock, we don't have time to whine over people who are just trying to help us. You're going to have to make it work." Captain America said.

"No." Tony told him. "I'll do what I want."

"Excuse me?" Steve sounded surprised. "That's a direct order."

"I don't take orders from you, Captain Crunch." Tony spat. "Especially since you have no consideration for other people's feelings."

Tony just glared at him until Steve said. "This is about last night isn't it?"

"Maybe." Tony shrugged.

"Wait, what happened last night?" Clint looked over at the soldier, sensing a nervous feeling in his chest.

"I knew I shouldn't have trusted you when you said you'd be fine." Steve said under his breath.

"What-" That Black Widow began, only to be cut off by Tony.

"My mistake for telling you!" Tony raised his voice and stood up. "Obviously you don't care that I'm going through hell right now with this! I shouldn't have even said anything to you! Why on earth would Captain America care? He's two worried about his own reputation! You know, I-I thought that I could talk to you about this and that maybe you'd understand, but you're too much of a goody-two-shoe to even acknowledge me, you'd just rather sweep it under the rug and walk around like nothing ever happened."

"Tony-" Steve broke in. "That's not-"

Tony threw his pen on the table. "You know what?" He fumed, his voice getting thick. "I don't care, you're right, maybe I'm being selfish, maybe I should worry about the matter on hand and forget about it," Actual tears made themselves present in Tony's eyes, quickly falling down his cheeks like even _they_ were too scared, too humiliated to stay. "Yeah, I'll just let it go." He left the lab quickly.

30 or so seconds of awkward silence hung in the air as the lab door closed. Cypra then marched in soon after Tony left and approached Steve with a look that could break glass. "What the hell did you do to him Rogers?"

"I-he just started freaking out all of a sudden," Steve explained. "I tried to talk to him, but he just got madder." The super soldier was almost dumbstruck with what just happened.

"You know he doesn't just blow this stuff off like you do, he told you the truth from the courage and kindness of his heart, not because he was trying to humiliate you!" She shouted. "It was hard for him to express that to you, you'd think that someone would actually give a damn, but obviously you_ don't_!"

"Cypra, calm down." Clint mediated. "Yelling doesn't help anything, but the rest of us would kind of like to know what's going on here."

The young adult sighed, pushing hair out of her face. "You're not gonna like this, and Tony even said you wouldn't, but he has feelings for Steve."

"Called it!" Clint exclaimed. "That's 20 bucks Bruce!"

"_What?_" Natasha put fingers to her temples.

"Man, I called BS on that one, but I guess you were right." Bruce took out his wallet.

"You were _betting_ on this?!" Cap and Cypra yelled together.

"Do you think this is a game?" Cypra broke off, "This is real, and Tony's been harboring this since he and Pepper split over that paycheck!"

"Paycheck, seriously?" Natasha scoffed. "That doesn't sound like Pepper at all."

"That's because it wasn't, she was worried about his health after he got the Arc Reactor removed and told him to spend his money on helping himself get better but he wanted to spend more money on his suits." Cypra explained. "They just got into an argument and Tony called it off and now Pepper wants to step down from CEO."

"Are you sure he's not just purging his unhealthy emotions by taking a liking to Cap?" Bruce asked.

"That's exactly what he's doing." Cypra confirmed. "But he doesn't realize it. He'll come out of this a new man, trust me."

"So this has happened before." Clint clarified.

"Yup, plenty of times." Cypra replied. "He'll go back to her, he just needs time. But meanwhile Cap, you need to be supportive instead of shutting him down."

"I'm sorry, I just-" Cap began.

"-Don't feel the same way. I know." Cypra sighed irritably. "It's obvious. Don't have to keep repeating yourself."

A flash of white erupted from outside, everyone curiously walked over to the window. Smoke was rising from the asphalt and a symbol was etched into the ground.

"Thor's back!" Cypra announced. "Whoa, is that…" She squinted her eyes to see better ,"the Tesseract!?"


	8. Chapter 8

"How did you get that?"

"Wait, Odin let you have it?"

"I thought it wasn't _on_ Asgard anymore."

Questions flooded the God of thunder as he entered the tower.

"Sif and Fandral managed to get it for me." The god told them. He saw Loki sitting on the couch, Leiknir staring up at him as if he were studying Loki. "Loki, you weren't supposed to move today."

"Tony let me come down to see you." Loki still sounded a little weak.

Thor sighed, handed Tony the Tesseract and approached his brother and the small bundle he was holding. "How is he?"

Loki smiled slightly, rocking his child gently. "He's tired. He keeps falling asleep and then waking up and making noise."

"Yeah, cuz being born is such hard work." Clint joked. "You should be the one who's tired."

"I am." The younger god confessed. "I just have trouble sleeping without Thor present."

"Still think we're after you don't ya?" Tony sighed. "Look Reindeer Games, what's in the past is in the past. Can't do anything about it, and the longer this country holds a grudge, the longer it's going to take to move on."

Leiknir sighed, and cooed at his parent. Drawing smiles from the team.

"He's talking to you, Loki." Cypra told him, giggling.

"Yes, that lamp is _exceedingly _hideous I know." Loki answered his child. "I'd burn it too."

"Hey! My late grandmother gave me that lamp!" Tony exclaimed.

The team cracked up laughing, experiencing the first light hearted moment they'd had in days.

* * *

><p><strong>24 hours later:<strong>

"Hi Thor!" Darcy shrieked and ran to hug him. "Wow, you're still so strong!"

"He's not going to change anytime soon Dar." Jane smirked as her boyfriend smiled at her in amusement.

"Wait so you guys stopped fighting?" She let go of Thor who released his grip on her too.

"Yeah I told you that yesterday." Jane said after she had kissed Thor.

"Was I playing 2048?" Darcy asked.

"Yeah I think so."

"Well that's why I didn't hear you." She mused and handed her coat to Thor, "Be a gentlemen and hang this up will you? Cypra! It's been forever!" She skipped over to the director and threw her arms around her.

"Wait, how do you know everybody?" Clint asked as he walked in with Bruce, Selvig and Tony. "And where's Cap?"

"Cap is at the gym doing who knows what and I used to work with Jane back in college." She choked out as Darcy squeezed her tightly.

"Oh. We have a gym in the tower." Clint said.

"He's trying to stay away from me." Tony announced. "He's scared."

"I highly doubt that." Natasha added as she got out of the elevator and walked casually into the lab. "I think he's pissed at you and doesn't want to kick your ass in front of company."

Jane looked over at Natasha; this was the first time she had seen the Black Widow in person, or any of the avengers for that matter. They were all taller than she had expected, but then again, she was just a short person in general. 5'3*, that wasn't tall.

"What is this 'ass kicking' you speak of? Why is Steve angry with Tony?" Thor asked.

"Oh yeah, you weren't here for that were you." Clint commented. "Well it turns out-"

"AHEM." Tony cleared his throat loudly. "I'll explain; thanks."

"Alright, chill." Clint raised his hands in surrender and sat on one of the lab tables.

"So Steve and I have been having some _personal_ issues that involve lots of feelings and…other stuff." Tony spit out.

"Feelings?" Thor raised an eyebrow.

"Tony has feelings for Steve and Steve's not too sure what to do with that." Cypra blurted.

"I was getting to that!" Tony exclaimed.

"No you weren't." Nat and Cypra said together.

"What kind of feelings? Jealousy?" Thor asked.

"Oh my god Thor, Tony is in love with Steve!" Clint told him.

"So? That happens all the time in my realms." Thor shrugged.

"Yeah, we know what goes on in _your _realms Thor." Clint casted a quick sideways glance at Loki who was sitting quietly playing with Leiknir in the room next door. He was separated from the rest of the group with a sliding glass door.

"Oh my god." Jane exclaimed under her breath. "He really is alive."

"I told you." Thor stroked her hair gently. "Don't worry, he can't do a whole lot right now, he's still recovering."

She slowly walked towards the door, studying the baby in his arms, "Is it really Thanos'?"

Darcy and Selvig came up behind her, just as awestruck as she was.

"Yeah, it's Thanos' alright, look at his eyes." Bruce told them.

"Woah! He has purple eyes!" Darcy exclaimed loudly, startling Loki. He looked up and froze, silently signaling his discomfort to Thor who opened the door and entered the room.

"It's alright, Loki." Thor soothed. Leiknir was brought close to his father's chest with protective hands wrapped around him. "They just want to say hello and see the baby."

Loki still looked untrusting. "Is she going to punch me again?" He asked, eyeing Jane.

"No-Loki, I'm sorry about that, I was just…mad still about what you did. But you saved me on Svartalfheim; me and Thor." She glanced over at her boyfriend. "Thank you, I know it's a little late." Jane told him softly.

Selvig inspected Loki further, not sensing any danger he said. "Yeah sorry about you…dying. That must have sucked, but hey! You're back."

Loki chuckled a little at the effort Selvig made to sound happy about his existence. "Thank you doctor."

"Can I hold your baby?" Darcy asked, smiling at the small baby. "I love babies!"

Loki glanced at Thor who nodded in assurance.

"Sure." Loki handed the young adult his child.

Darcy cradled him in her arms and smiled, speaking soft words to the baby as she rocked him side to side. "He even smells like new baby! Look Jane, isn't he adorable?" She looked up at her boss.

"He's very cute." Jane took Leiknir from her and kissed him as she brought him close to her. "Hi." She greeted the infant. "You're little." Leiknir cood and reached for her nose. Jane laughed lightly as the infant grabbed hold of her nose briefly.

"Wow, most infants don't reach for stuff at a day old." Selvig commented.

"He's not Midgardian." Thor reminded him. "He'll be walking and talking at an earlier age as well."

"Wait this baby is an alien?" Darcy asked.

"Technically, yes." Jane answered.

"Awesome!" Darcy commented. "His eyes are so gorgeous!"

Loki couldn't help but to grin at the females complimenting his child, even it was Thanos'.

* * *

><p>Steve picked up his punching bag and returned it to its place on the ceiling as he headed over to the locker rooms. He had decided that he wasn't mad at Tony, actually on certain days he had wanted to embrace him, hold him in his arms…<p>

Steve punched the wall, knocking some picture frames off. Why was he thinking that? "You're losing it Steve." He told himself.

"Sir," One of the employees called. "Sir are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry about that." The Captain apologized. He quickly picked up the frames and hung them back up, not even sure why there were pictures in the locker room in the first place.

He walked outside the gym into the warm air. He didn't want to return to the tower but he knew he had to because Selvig and company had probably already come. Plus, he needed an update from Thor whether he could get the Tesseract.

Why did he think these things? Why did he _want_ to fall for Tony? Maybe he already had…maybe-

A taxi slammed on the horn before hitting the breaks _after_ slamming into Steve and knocking him hard into the asphalt. A normal person would've gotten knocked unconscious but Steve wasn't a normal person, he got back up and shook it off. "Are you okay? Watch where you're going!" The taxi driver yelled at him. "Shit, that's the 6th person this week!"

Steve ignored him and the thousands of drivers who were in awe of his survival and kept walking.

He stalked into the tower, trying not to be heard or seen but to no avail. He heard JARVIS say "Master Steve has entered the building, sir."

Steve was about to walk into his room when Tony ran over. "Steve! Thor got the Tesseract!"

"What? How?" The super soldier asked as he threw his towel into his room.

"Sif and Fandral got it for him, I don't know. Hey look, I'm sorry about yelling at you like that. That was kinda uncalled for."

"It's alright, I'm sorry I didn't acknowledge your feelings, I guess I just didn't know what to say." Steve scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah I know." Tony replied. "I get it. Hugs?"

Steve wrapped his arms around his teammate, feeling a sense of bliss he hadn't felt in a while. He wished he could feel it more often. Tony smelled of scotch and expensive cologne, a mix that most people wouldn't like, but Steve did.

"Hey Cap, are you okay?" Tony blurted.

Steve realized he had been standing there for a while, gripping Tony tightly. He let go immediately. "Uh, yeah. Sorry."

* * *

><p><strong>*Natalie Portman really is 5'3 and so am I. We live short people lives lol. <strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi! Thank you so much for all your reviews and support! I'm so happy it's summer here in Austin, we got out last week...or maybe it was the week before...can't remember. Anyways, our story is coming to an end soon, so enjoy! **

Loki's heart was beating fast as his baby was being passed around to everyone in the room. He had a strong feeling that he shouldn't trust these mortals, but he didn't want to seem so hostile. They had been nice enough to let him stay here and he should be grateful, not so suspicious. It made him feel much better when Thor finally lifted the infant out of Darcy's arms and held him close. Leiknir was trying to root him, which was funny because even Loki couldn't breast feed, he could only bottle feed him.

Selvig worked closely together with Jane, writing procedures down in her notebook. It was confusing and the loose bolts were giving them issues. Welding rusty parts together wasn't even the bigger problem however, it was Hydra or whatever was left of SHIELD picking up the signature the Tesseract left behind. The last thing anyone needed right now was government/terrorist intervention.

* * *

><p>Steve had gone to bed promptly after Tony had left. "You're just tired Steve." He told himself. "Go to sleep, there's no way you could actually feel that way towards Tony."<p>

When he thought about it, he really couldn't see how he could fall for him, I mean, it was _Tony. _He was cocky, know-it-all, irritating, irrational, selfish, and just a jerk in the end. Ever since Steve had met him, he didn't like him, so there was no excuse for these feelings.

A knock on his door startled him. "Come in." He sat up.

"Hey, it's me." Tony's stepped in quietly.

The super soldier turned the lamp on beside his bed. "I thought you were working with Selvig and Jane."

"I was, they've kind of taken over, this is why I didn't even _want_ them here in the first place." He sat beside Steve. "I thought you'd be asleep by now."

"I was falling asleep until you so rudely interrupted me." Steve joked. "What do you need?"

"You." Tony slipped his hand into Steve's. "I just wanted to hang with you for a little while, get away from all the science for once."

Steve squeezed his hand gently. "Look, I've been trying to figure this out since you told me how you felt. I think that I may feel the same." He couldn't believe he had just confessed that to Tony. Still, he felt a relief when he did.

"You do? Really?" Tony asked, clearly surprised with his confession.

Before Steve could smile or say anything, Tony had his lips pressed against the soldier's. Steve felt something in his chest light up, an excitement he'd never felt before. He gratefully accepted the kiss, kissing him back and pulling him towards him. So blissful...

Steve awoke with a start, sweating and frantically turning the lamp on. Nobody was in the room and the air felt freezing against his skin. "Oh god, it was just a dream." He sighed. The clock read 3:30 am and the Tower was silent, meaning everyone had gone to bed by now.

That did it, he needed to get Tony and Pepper back together. He wasn't going to get any sleep if this kept up.

* * *

><p>Morning smelled like bacon and tortillas with the slightest hint of spicy salsa in the air.<p>

Cypra quietly entered the kitchen in her PJ's with Darcy and Jane following behind her, also in their PJ's.

"Have a good slumber party?" Tony joked as he took the bacon off the pan.

"Shut up." Cypra griped, earning laughs from both Clint and Tony. She found her apple juice in the fridge and made her breakfast taco, signaling Jane and Darcy to do the same.

Thor came in without a shirt on, cradling his nephew in his arms and bottle feeding him. Leiknir stared up at him with drowsy, half-open eyes. Thor smiled at him. "You are really hungry aren't you?"

Steve slapped Tony on the back good morning like he did everyday, while Natasha snuck in, scared the crap out of Clint and Bruce laughing as she did.

"Not funny." Bruce warned. "Quit doing that to me."

"Eat fast guys, we got a big day ahead of us." Selvig stepped out of the elevator. "The portal is working, I just need to tweak it to send us to Jotunheim.

"You mean me." Loki kept his voice low as he sat down. "I will not allow any of you to die because of me. I will retrieve the stone and find Thanos."

"You're still recovering!" Thor protested.

"And?"

"At least let me come with you." The god of thunder proposed.

"I call babysitting Leiknir!" Darcy shouted and shot her hand up in the air.

"Alright." Thor nodded. "Darcy, Jane, and Cypra will watch Leiknir."

The baby began to cry, letting the world know that his bottle was indeed empty. Loki sighed, taking his child from his brother and kissing him gently. "Shh, I can't feed you anymore, love. You'll puke it all up."

Thor shuddered slightly, remembering the clumpy, milky spit up Leiknir had spewed all over his cape the night before. Thor had never seen or smelled anything so nasty before. It was, however, his fault for squeezing him. Loki did warn him about squeezing infants.

* * *

><p>Before long, the portal had been set to the icy terrain of Jotunheim. Thor and Loki kissed the baby's head goodbye.<p>

"Alright." Tony began. "You guys have your communicators and I'll be guiding you in the direction of the alpha waves. When you get to the site, Thor I need you to break whatever it's being protected in. It may take a few tries."

The god of Thunder nodded.

"This should take less than a day," Selvig commented. "We put you as close to the site as the Tesseract would allow, but it's still about 15 miles out. Good luck."

Loki felt a sickening twist in his stomach and he wanted more than anything just to get it over with and get back to Leiknir.

Cypra kissed his cheek. "You'll be fine, you know this land better than anyone."

Loki smiled slightly. His last visit wasn't the greatest, however.

At last, the gods were cleared to step through the portal. Thor grabbed Loki's hand protectively and took a deep breath before guiding Loki into the other realm.


	10. Chapter 10

**Bet y'all thought I had abandoned story huh? Not even close. Much more of this series to com. :) Chapter 10: Enjoy! Happy day before Independence Day my fellow Americans, or if your reading this on independence day: Happy 4th!**

* * *

><p>Loki exhaled as the cold air hit his face. He let go of Thor's hand and squinted his eyes as the freezing wind and snow hit him.<p>

The portal closed behind them, making sure the Tesseract wouldn't over heat and send a traceable pulse out.

Loki's heart sank when he saw his homeland. It always did, the dreadful feeling of the place where he was abandoned weighed his soul down, especially now with Leiknir. "Let's just get this over with." He huffed.

"Can do." Tony replied through the communicator. Loki had forgotten he was listening to every word.

* * *

><p>15 miles reminded Loki how terribly out of shape he was. His calves hurt, his face was numb and he was still recovering from childbirth. Yes it was true that gods, especially male gods, recovered quicker than goddesses but 'quicker' was considered at least 4 days. It was day 2.<p>

"Loki?" Thor's voice sounded. "Are you okay? We can stop and rest if you need to."

Honestly, Loki did want to rest, but standing still in a half blizzard in a realm he despised was not considered "resting" to Loki, so he refused. "No, I'm fine."

Thor knew well that Loki was lying but he knew his little brother wouldn't relent to his asking, even if it went to begging.

Thor sighed. He wished his brother was less stubborn about these things. It used to be that all Loki cared about was himself but that had changed since his defeat, since Thanos, since the baby. He was so worried about the people he loved that he was willing to completely ignore his own needs. Even if it meant his physical health.

"Thor!" Tony's voice blasted through the mouth piece. "We're getting strong alpha waves here! Start looking!"

Thor looked around. There was no mountains, no rocks, nothing. The land was completely flat and barren.

"Could it be cloaked?" He asked Loki, his little brother being the magic expert.

"Perhaps." Loki exhaled. "But not likely considering nobody ever comes out here."

The men looked around. Nothing was there.

"Agh!" Thor thew Mjolnir down in frustration, but instead of hitting the ground and staying however, it broke through the ice below them, releasing a deafening crack in the ice.

Loki had seen this before. The ground was now unstable so he ran away from the splitting ice as fast as he could, but Thor was too stunned to move. He fell right through the ice with a loud thump, shouting curse words in Norse.

When the ice settled, Loki slowly walked over to the edge of the rift and tentatively craned his neck over the break to look for his brother. "Thor!" He called, panic rising in his voice.

"I am here Loki. I'm okay." An echoed voice responded. "There's a cave down here."

Crackling in his ear startled Loki. "Reindeer Games? Are you and the big man alright? We lost communication there for a second." Tony's voice sounded in his ear.

"I'm fine." Loki replied; fuming at how the scientist still called him 'Reindeer Games.'

"What happened?"

"The ice broke beneath us." Loki explained. "Thor said he found a cave down there."

"Maybe the 'eilíftsteinn' or whatever the hell you call it is down there." Tony suggested.

"Maybe." Loki looked down at his brother.

"Loki." Thor called. "Stay here, I will go search for the stone."

"No I will most certainly _not _'stay here while you look for the stone." Loki protested. "What if that was loud enough to attract frost giants!? What if you die stumbling into a trap because you don't know the difference between your left and your right!"

Loki could hear Tony giggling in the background.

"I do to know my left and my right!" Thor argued.

"Really?" Loki mused. "Which way is left?"

Thor pointed to his right.

"No." Loki stated.

"I know, I was just testing you." Thor explained.

"The hell you were." Loki replied irritably.

"Look brother, if you come down here you are going to get hurt." Thor said. "It's safer to stay up there."

"And if you go alone you'll get hurt by yourself, but if I come with you you'll get hurt too, but at least you'll have me." Loki proposed. "Besides it's freezing up here and I imagine that the wind isn't as bad down there. My retinas are least likely to freeze and blind me if I'm with you."

Thor sighed and stared up at his brother, "Fine, but you will be at my side at all times."

"Right because wandering off in a cave alone is definitely what I'm going to do after I just told you not to do it. What kind of hypocrite do you take me for?" Loki shot back. "Now catch me, I'm going to jump."

Before Thor could protest, his little brother landed smack on his chest, he hadn't quite lost the weight he had gained from being pregnant yet.

"A heads up would've been nice!" Thor grimaced at the sudden pain. "What is the matter with you?"

"You're an avenger, you should be ready for anything." Loki looked down at his brother's lightning blue eyes and smiled, knowing Thor wouldn't be mad for long.

Thor sighed and stood, helping Loki off the ground. "Tis true, however we do the best to warn each other first." He smiled a little.

"Sorry." Loki shrugged.

The cave was dark, minus the light pouring out of the opening from above. Loki whispered a light spell, a bright yellow orb floating around them. His breath got caught in his throat as he took in his surroundings.

It was glistening white and rough diamonds poked out of the walls. He caught a pathway made of marble, twisted with gold in the ground, leading to a door. A table and vase sat in a small room and as they got closer, the air was beginning to warm. Loki spotted a fireplace, then a bed and a nightstand with three books stacked on top of each other. A laced rug with Greek, Roman and Norse symbols on it was spread across the floor. Somebody lived here.

Thor was almost as amazed and stunned as Loki. Who dwells in an underground cave on Jotunheim?

"Guys, we don't have a visual, what's going on down there?" Tony asked the two at the same time.

"It looks as if someone lives down here." Thor replied. "It looks like a bedroom."

Suddenly, piercingly bright lights blinded the two gods.

"Who are you?! What is your business here?" A menacing voice asked.

"I am Prince Thor of Asgard and this is my brother, Prince Loki." Thor introduced, squinting an covering his eyes.

"Prince Thor and Loki of Asgard?"

The gods eyes adjusted and they could see that the menacing voice belonged to a dwarf. The same race that made Thor's hammer. He had used a spell to turn on some fluorescent torches, only seen on Elvheim.

"It's an honor to meet you your royal Highnesses*! My name is Yimbar Ironfist." The voice soon became excited and upbeat, the dwarf bowed before them.

"It is a pleasure to see someone who's not a frost giant." Loki replied.

"Oh yes! I hate those nasty creatures!" The dwarf agreed. "Now what brings you to my humble home?"

"We kind of found it by mistake." Thor glanced over to the hole in the ceiling.

"I see," the dwarf frowned. "I knew I should've fixed that leak earlier!"

"Yimbar Ironfist?" Tony asked in the communicator. "What the hell is this? Lord of the Rings?" Thor heard hysterical laughter in the background. He smiled because he thought he heard Jane, not because he knew what Lord of the Rings was. "Ask him about the eternal stone!"

"We are looking for a thing called the eilíftsteinn, have you heard of it?" Loki questioned.

The dwarf's face changed from excited to troubled. "Come." He motioned them to follow.

He led them through a door into a room that was five times the size of the first one. There was a wall of ice at least 5 feet thick covering the rest of the room. It was colder in here than it was out there.

Loki couldn't believe his eyes when he saw it. He walked over to the end of the room and saw a rock encased in the ice, as big as his fist.

"I've been trying to find a way to get it out for years." The dwarf explained. "I've tried everything! Fires, bonfires, bombs, dynamite. They all wear away the wall, it used to be much thicker, but I still can't manage to get it out."

"We found the stone." Loki stated the obvious to Tony. "It's behind some pretty thick ice though."

"You've tried _everything_?" Thor asked, smirking. "I know something you haven't tried yet."

"And what would that be?" The dwarf asked.

"Mjolnir."

* * *

><p><strong>*I actually had to go look up how you address a prince and I saw that it said "If you ever run into royalty in the UK or something, if it's a prince or a princess you say "your royal highness" and this brought up 2 questions. <strong>

**1. Do royalty REALLY go walking a round the streets randomly saying hi to people, I mean, what are the chances of you running into royalty?**

**2. If you do happen to run into royalty and you address then wrong, will they shun you like they used to do in the late 1700's? **

**All I can say is that I'm so happy I live in America where we don't put up with all this "royalty" stuff. (No offense to my lovely Brits and Australians I love you!)**


	11. Chapter 11

**I'm back! Yay! I see Avengers has made it to 28K stories. Damn. Sorry about the formatting issues :(**

* * *

><p>Tony wanted to fall asleep so badly. So very badly. But he had to stay up. He had to wait for Thor and Loki to come back. He had to make sure Cypra wouldn't become an alcoholic like him. She had been drinking a lot that night.<p>

Jane had taken Leiknir out of Cypra's arms for his own safety; and Cypra had thrown a huge fit and attempted to take Jane out with the baby in her arms. Cap restrained her, and Natasha handcuffed her to the table.

Cypra eventually fell asleep, snoring lightly and peacefully in the chair. When she awoke, she'd probably have a hell of a time trying to fight off a hangover. All it took was a few shots of whiskey. Yes, whiskey. Why Cypra had a taste for that, nobody knew.

Tony was thoroughly irritated that it took Thor and Loki so long to get back, all he wanted to do was fall asleep in the arms beside him. And because of the so called "blizzard" the brothers got stuck in on the way back, was hindering their ability to move with haste.

Cap was thinking about telling Tony to go to bed, but if something happened to the lab itself, he doubted Selvig would be able to manage it, Tony had tools cluttered around the tables, you could barley see anything. Suit prototypes took up much of the space and coca-cola bottles were everywhere.

Cap had also been thinking about Tony. Fragile, soft- "Can it Rogers!" He thought to himself, but he couldn't stop. Tony who needed to have some life breathed into him; a life other than partying and getting drunk and laying girls around. Cap felt like Tony walked around almost robot-like at times. Just doing what he had to to make sure that everything was going exactly the way he wanted. When he was done, he just went back to the grind of alcohol, letting that whisk away his problems.

He decided that perhaps he really wanted Tony, that maybe the fight between him and Pepper happened for a reason. That dream hadn't been a warning, it had been a desire. A strange, sudden, twisted desire for the man he thought irritated the hell out of him, the man who DID irritate the hell out it him.

The power shut off. Steve snapped back to reality.

The Tesseract glowed blue still, but without the electricity, the actual portal was non functional. That and they couldn't measure the various gamma levels the infinite power source gave off.

Cypra jolted awake. "What the hell happened to the lights?!" She yelled. "It's Thanos! He's coming!" She shrieked. "He'll have to catch me first!" She attempted to break the handcuffs, but with no avail.

Clint ran to her before she woke up the baby. "Hey! Chill! The power just went out."

"Yeah!" She laughed an uneasy, unnatural laugh. "It's Thanos."

"It's not Thanos, promise."

"He wants me to meet my demise, but I'll unleash all hell before I let that happen!"

Various things around the room began floating off the tables. Cypra's eyes turned a weird color, like a whitish greenish blue.

Cap was instantly reminded of Scarlett Witch. He had read about her, her eyes turned almost the same color.

Tony quickly stood up. "Cypra, calm down it's okay." He approached her carefully.

The objects flew higher, the other avengers were stunned. Jane had seen this before when someone had attempted to rob her in Chicago. It was like Cypra came to her immediate rescue. Her eyes did the same thing, her purse was somehow lifted into the air and the man was somehow thrown about 30 yards away from her. Jane had been to scared to see the whole thing, but she remembered hearing people scream.

She remembered sirens and Fury stepping out of a helicopter. She remembered broken windshields and car alarms going off, but what she remembered the most was men grabbing Cypra and sticking a needle into her neck and watching her friend pass out in their arms. Jane had been crying.

Was that going to happen now? Jane held the baby closer to her chest.

Tears began streaming down Cypra's face, although Cypra didn't quite know what she was crying about. All she knew was that she was scared. Terrified actually. She could barley see Tony calmly walking towards her, she could barley smell Clint's sweet cologne and hear him telling her to relax. The cold cuffs against her skin reminded her that she was an animal, meant to be chained up anyways. Now she knew how Banner felt. The isolation, nobody understanding you.

"I can feel him Tony." She told him. "I promise I'm not making this up."

"I know you can sweetie, but your safe here, Leiknir is safe here too okay? He's not here right now."

"But he's coming." She said through her tears. He's coming soon."

* * *

><p>Tony stood outside, yes it was cold. He didn't care though. He was too worried that Cypra would wake up any moment and unleash hell upon absolutely nothing.<p>

He wanted to go to bed. He wanted his life to be the way it was a month ago, just him staying up late at night drink in and picking on his secretary. That was fun. But most of all, he wanted Cap.

He wanted to feel safe in that warm embrace like he had the night before.

It had been amazing, just the two of them.

"Stark."

Tony's heart skipped a beat at the voice.

"Yes, captain."

"Go to bed, it's 3:15."

"Can't, have to make sure Cypra is okay. How did you know I was out here?"

"My Tony senses were tingling. I knew something wasn't right with you."

"You know me so well, Cap." Tony joked.

Steve came up behind him and wrapped ironman in a jacket. "Is that good or bad?"

"Little bit of both." Tony watched his breath dissipate into the night air.

Steve wrapped his arms around Tony from behind. "We need to talk."

Tony sighed. "I don't want to get back together with Pepper." He sighed and turned around in Steve's arms, facing him. "I read that to-do list in your drawer, you STILL haven't seen Forest Gump*?"

Steve felt a pang of anger. "Why were you going through my drawer?"

"Because I was looking for my car charger that YOU stole and never gave back." Tony huffed.

"I didn't steal it, I borrowed it without telling you and just forgot to give it back." Steve argued.

"So you stole it." Tony concluded. "Whatever, look I don't want Pepper okay?"

"I know." Steve said softly. And he did know, he knew that Tony was done with his ex and was ready to move on had BEEN ready to move on for a while. He just couldn't accept that Tony chose him. Or maybe he accepted it, but didn't WANT to. He wasn't sure. Something told him that the last few months of them lifting and running together was something more than just trying to 'get along.' (That was what Steve told everyone who asked) All those movies they watched together, Tony trying to explain the irony in all of them. Man, Tony had a gift for explaining movie plots. Steve had enjoyed the emotion Tony expressed when he really got into the movies. Sometimes he would be laughing hysterically, sometimes he'd be solemn, other times Steve could see him holding back tears. Especially when it came to movies about Vietnam and Zero Dark Thirty. Yeah, Cap had been around for the Bin-Laden episode. Vietnam, not as much.

"Well if you know, why are you doing this?"

Tony asked. "Why can't you just accept that I have feelings for you and have had these feelings for a while."

"I guess I'm just," He paused. "Not used to hearing something like that. Especially from you. I thought you hated me."

"I did, and then I got over it." Tony confessed. "And I started accepting the goody two shoe you were. I knew it was only a matter of time before I fell."

Steve laughed lightly. That was exactly what happened to him. He started to like Tony's personality, and yes, he had fallen. He had fallen hard and no matter how hard he tried to deny it, he was reminded by the sight of Tony every morning. His eyes began brimming with tears at the truth. They always did.

"You're sending me mixed messages." Tony told him. "You tell me that you don't know what to say and that you don't feel the same, but then you do this." Tony suddenly looked angry. "You keep doing this and I don't know why? Are you trying to mess with me? Are you trying to rub it in that I can't have you? What is it Captain?"

Steve had almost forgotten that he was holding Tony gently by the waist. He let go. "I'm sorry-"

"Just tell me!" Tony pushed him backwards. "Tell me the truth. I'm sick of this bullshit you keep putting me through! Do you like me? Do you hate me? Do you wanna kill me? Just tell me damn it!"

"I love you." Steve didn't pay any attention to the tears on his cheeks. Nor did he pay attention to the fact that he confessed something that he didn't want to. "Okay? I said it." He wanted to punch Tony for doing that to him, he wanted to make him bleed. So, he retreated back inside as quietly as he came, trying to control his breathing. Stupid Tony. Stupid stupid Tony. Steve angrily wiped the tears off his face and shut himself into his room, hoping that Thor and Loki would be home soon. He just wanted to get his mind on something other than Tony. Or worse. The team who wouldn't be exactly thrilled to hear about this.

* * *

><p><strong>*Forest Gump. Greatest. Movie. Ever!<strong>


	12. Chapter 12

**Yeah I know I haven't written in MONTHS. You all must be very frustrated with me but I have had a lot of important matters to attend to. One being college classes, and another being driving. Who doesn't love driving? -_- Please R&R.**

Crack.

The ice split immediately, sending a deafening noise that echoed throughout the cave walls. Loki covered his ears and fought off a wave of nausea and dizziness. Maybe he shouldn't have come. Perhaps waiting a little longer was a good idea…but then he thought of Leiknir, his little hands and feet; a baby that he could not give up. His child.

Thor hit the wall with Mjolnir four, then five times. At last it gave way shattering like glass into little shards in the ground. The eilíftsteinn glowed slightly, a chemical reaction to the heat it hadn't felt in thousands of years. "We got it!" Thor voiced triumphantly into the comm.

It was silent for a moment. "Um Thor, are you sure that's it?" Tony asked, "We aren't getting alpha waves at all from that thing."

"Thor," Another voice interjected, a female's.

"Jane? You sound worried." Thor replied.

"That's not the stone…I-,"

The god of thunder didn't even have time to react as beings grabbed him and Loki, shoving them to the ground and spraying something, one that…

The com went silent; along with everyone in the room. "Thor? Loki? Can you hear us?" Tony asked frantically pressing a thousand buttons on the screen, but to no avail.

"What the hell just happened?" Jane exclaimed.

"I don't know." Tony stared at the screen, "we lost 'em."

Everyone slowly turned around to look at Cypra, who stood silently with the baby in her arms. "He got them."

"What? Who got them?" Clint asked.

"Thanos' men. I could hear the wisps they make right before Thor and Loki went dark." She handed the sleeping child to Darcy. "I'm over this shit. I'm calling a few friends." There was panic in her voice as she marched out of the lab, grabbed her phone and went to the top of Stark Tower. Tony caught up with her quickly with the team following behind. She felt like they were depending on her to tell the future, yeah, she was a clairvoyant, but she never got the little details quite right.

"Where do you think you're going?" A woman stormed outside ignoring the look Tony gave her.

"Mom."

"Pepper? What are you doing here?" Tony marched in behind her.

"I'm going to Asgard." Cypra spoke.

"No!" They both said together.

"Thanos has them!" Cypra yelled. "What do you want me to do?! Honestly? Sit here?! You are not like me, none of you are!"

"Look, I know you've been having some emotional suicidal* things going on but this is not the way to go out. Believe me." Tony stated.

"Suicidal?" Peppers face contorted to surprise. "You want to commit suicide?"

"Thanks dad." Cypra threw her phone at him. "It doesn't work on Asgard."

"Cypra you-,"

Before Pepper could finish Cypra yelled Heimdall's name and in a blast of light she disappeared, flying far away from earth.

Loki awoke, slowly sitting up as he fought the urge to vomit. He knew this place…the dim torches and the bars, the damp smell. He gasped. "Thor!" He screamed, but nobody replied. He tried to move but the chains that held him against the wall rattled making him jump and pulling him backwards.

This was the room, the exact one where the unspeakable horrors took place. He recognized the crack in the corner of the ceiling. The tick marks on the wall right where he was sitting, the ones he had made. He heard metal plates clicking together as someone approached the cell. They slid the door up and it wasn't long until Loki figured out who it was. Ronin.

"Word has it you're dead." Loki spoke up. He wasn't afraid of speaking this time.

Ronin laughed. "All is well when nobody knows you're alive. You can relate can't you?"

"Where's Thor?"

"Speaking to Leiknir's father."

Loki almost shook with rage. How dare he speak his son's name.

"What is he doing to Thor?" Loki looked him dead in the eye.

"Nothing major, we've already seen the results of a pregnant Asgardian." Ronin unlocked the chains and yanked Loki to his feet. "You're next."

Loki was sure he was going to throw up any minute, so he decided to keep his nerves in place. It was better that way.

Ronin marched him down the hall. The other prisoners laughed and mocked Loki as he passed by. He remembered them all. Their stories of rape and murder, they belonged here. He didn't.

Thanos chuckled as they entered the palace. His throne room; it was quite beautiful, glass and crystal. It all seemed so fragile, but Loki had tried all sorts of magic in that room and nothing seemed to work.

"Loki!" Thor exclaimed fighting the guards for freedom, but failing.

"Thor?" Loki was surprised how emotional his voice came out to be. He felt sick again as Thanos smiled.

"I'm so glad you could join us."

"What do you want?" Loki hissed. "Why do you have Thor?"

Thanos laughed. "Well what's better than having one kid?" Thanos paused, approached Thor and gently stroked a lock of blond hair. He returned his eyes to Loki. "Having two of course."

***I was so depressed once in my life that I was suicidal too. If you are ever in that situation please seek immediate help. I wish I would've done that instead of try to hide it.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Yeah yeah I know but before y'all yell at me I just wanted to give you an update. I no longer have a bf. My sister totaled my car. I am a CA and currently obtaining my pharmacy techs license. Managed to get into college...somehow. Got a new phone (thank the lord) I'm a busy senior. Enjoy!**

"You wouldn't." The words escaped Loki's mouth like fire. Every ounce of fear and hatred entwined into them like a complicated stitching, but without any color. He was so scared, that he could feel nothing. A certain demise crawled up his legs, then arms, then into his chest. He blinked back tears.

"Why shouldn't I?" Thanos rumbled. "You betrayed me."

"I couldn't let you hurt Leiknir." Loki spat. "I know what you would've done."

"Do you?" The all-powerful being raised an eyebrow. "Bring him forth!" He motioned at Thor.

Loki had always admired Thor's bravery. He knew that his older brother was scared shitless, yet a look of determination rested on Thor's face. Loki knew that he was already thinking about a way out.

But there was no way out. The young man had spent ages here already, he'd thought about every way to escape, but it wouldn't work. Thanos was always twelve steps ahead of him. Loki was suddenly overcome with fear. Mother's anxiety. They called it on Asgard. It's when you've been apart from your newborn for too long. The body misses the newborn's pheromones. The hormones in your body start getting unsettled with the instinctual need to feed your child.

He did the best he could to shake it off. Cypra had him, it was fine.

Loki shuddered inside as he watched Thanos stroke Thor's cheek. "You want your child?" Loki blurted, "you can have him." He took a shaky breath. "And me. But on one condition."

Thanos stopped, interested. "Go on."

"You let Thor go. Let him go and never touch him again." Loki couldn't stop the tears from falling.

"No." Thor shook his head. "No Loki, I will not allow you to become a slave like you once were. It was my fault. I allowed father to send you here. It is I who should be punished."

The amount of chivalry Thor had honestly disgusted Loki. It was cliché. But when he caught the look in Thor's eyes, something broke inside him. He thought to years past, all the screaming and yelling and fighting. The bruises they both had suffered and the tears in his older brother's eyes when he was trying to talk reason into him. Thor cared. Loki had destroyed most of Manhattan, threatened the safety of Jane, threatened the safety of his friends, and killed thousands of innocent people. Thor still cared.

It was unbelievable, the sacrifice. It was beautiful and Loki finally realized where he'd messed up. He hated himself so much that he made everyone else hate him. He wanted to be hated in this sick, twisted way. He couldn't love himself, so he never allowed himself to be loved.

This epiphany exploded with confidence and determination. He now had a new fire in him. He was going to win this. And now he knew how.

* * *

><p>Cypra stormed into the Bifrost. "Heimdall! Do you have eyes on Thor and Loki?"<p>

"I am catching glimpses of them but it's hard to see." The guardian looked off into the distance. "My sight is being interrupted by some sort of dark magic."

She heaved a sigh took a horse and rode into Asgard. She thought about how she just yelled at her dad. She shouldn't have yelled at him. And what was worse was that she knew that Tony and Pepper weren't likely to stay together. Cypra loved Pepper. She called her "mom". It angered her that Tony would strip Pepper away from her like that. Who was he to ruin her life? It was already ruined.

The bridge absorbed every light ray that hit it. At sunset it shine a beautiful pink, purple and gold. It was majestic against the mare's white hair. She felt like she could be riding a unicorn, as childish as that sounded.

Soldiers quickly, tied her horse to the dock as she leapt off of him. "Odin!" She cried as she ran into the throne room. "Thanos has both your sons!"

Sif, Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun all whipped around. Cypra stopped dead in her tracks, realizing that she must have interrupted a meeting of some sort. "Sorry." She apologized.

"We were just discussing that something was going on. Heimdall has been complaining about not being able to see very well." The all-father rose. "Tell me what trouble they have gotten themselves into this time."

"I don't know where they are or what's happening there. All I know is that Thanos has them."

* * *

><p>Tony wanted to lose it, but kept calm as he marched back to the lab. "Selvig?"<p>

"That rock was not the eilíftsteinn." Jane had panic in her voice.

"Then what is?" Clint jumped up. "We've got to get them. Where'd Cypra go?"

"Asgard." Tony sat down beside Selvig studying the readings.

"That's when you know hell's about to break loose." Darcy said snapping her gum. "She doesn't go to Asgard often."

"Oh Jesus." Tony put his head in his hands. Leiknir began to fuss and Jane tried her best to soothe him, but Leiknir missed his parent. Jane wasn't a mother, but she could tell somehow.

"What?" Cap slid in between him and Selvig.

"The readings have been steady the entire time...except for when they got to the rock. But it wasn't the rock that gave off the alpha rays." He tapped his pen rhythmically on the metal table. Scrolling down on the computer he furrowed his brow. "Something reacted to the false stone, or the stone reacted to something that Thor or Loki had with them." He spun around. "Jane, did Thor have any sort of rings or amulets he carried with him?"

She thought for a moment, then shook her head. "But I think that Loki carried around a ring. He'd had it since birth. It was on a small gold chain that was wrapped around his neck when Odin found him as a baby." Jane knew this as Thor had explained it to her long ago when she became curious of him.

* * *

><p>"The eilíftsteinn?!" Odin looked at her in awe. "I haven't heard about that since I was a child. My father told me it was a myth." He sat down again, most likely tired from hearing all the bad news.<p>

Something grasped at Odin's mind. He didn't get such vivid memories anymore. He remembered when he first held Loki as a baby, he studied the gold ring that hung loosely on a chain around his neck. In tiny letters the engraving had read. "Sá sem hætta ofríki í lögum hans." "The one will stop tyranny in his tracks."

The all-father stood up, not believing himself. "Loki cannot find the eilíftsteinn."

"What?" Cypra wasn't sure what she was hearing. That was the only way to stop Thanos.

"Loki cannot find the eilíftsteinn because he has the eilíftsteinn." Odin announced. "He carries the ring with him wherever he goes."

Cypra flashed back to before all of this, before New York, before Thor landed in New Mexico, when she and Loki were having a picnic in a hideout on Asgard. She had read the engraving on it and had asked him where he had got that ring.

"It was on a chain around my neck when Odin found me." Loki had replied. "It's the only thing I have from my homeland."

She couldn't believe it. She marched out of the throne room, Sif and the Warriors three following her without question. She had to get to Loki.

* * *

><p>Selvig and Tony looked at each other with an expression of disbelief. "The stone Thor found was a prop." Selvig began.<p>

"So where's the real thing then?" Bruce asked, once in his life utterly confused.

"The ring is the real thing." Tony stated. "Loki's had it this whole time."

* * *

><p><strong>Hi! I hoped you liked this chapter! More to come! Please R&amp;R! I've missed you guys and I'm sure y'all have missed this fic!<strong>


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey guys! Lots of action in this chapter, and some feels!**

Cypra landed by the Stark Tower as fast as possible. The Avengers team swarmed her as she marched inside, a certain fear, but nonetheless determination settling into her bones. "Loki has the-"

"-eilíftsteinn, we know." Tony and Selvig worked hurriedly, shuffling papers and twisting knobs and dials on the reactor.

"I've got it," Cypra typed in a few coordinates on the computer and adjusted the portal to the correct frequency, almost like a radio. It was blurry, but it was shifting back and forth between blue and an image of Thor and Loki in Thanos' throne room. Cypra studied it and heaved a sigh. "This won't be stable for long." The young woman took off her shirt revealing a white cami, gaining eyes from most of the men in the room. "I'm going in, the portal will close behind me, I have instructed Sif and the warriors three to open another using Heimdall and it will take us to Asgard." She grabbed weapons out of a closet quickly, all quantum generated ammo. They were some of the few that Fury had built during his little underground WMD workshop. "From Asgard, we will get back home."

"Cypra." Tony began. She ignored him. Grabbing her sweater she stepped through the portal and glimpsed the startled expressions on the faces of the team. She did not say goodbye, she didn't even hesitate before she stepped through there. this could mean certain death, and what Tony didn't understand is why she didn't even want to weigh the options. It closed behind her.

* * *

><p>Sparks flew on the Tower side and Tony madly inspected the piece. The metal had melted into the atom receptors microscopic holes. There was no fixing that. They'd have to start from scratch.<p>

Tony swore and threw a clipboard across the cluttered desks. He could see the fear in Pepper's eyes as he looked at her. "She's making up for all the stubborn teenage girl years we missed." Pepper found no amusement to that at all and sat down as if she was suddenly too weak to stand.

"What do we do?" Jane had asked after the room fell silent.

"We can't do anything." Tony announced emptily. And he could not. Tony had a solution to everything, science, not science, it didn't matter. If someone was upset, he'd talk to them or buy them something, if there was an equation nobody could solve, he put his supercomputers at work on it. If there was trouble, he fixed it with one of his suits. He fought when he needed to and stood down when he needed to. Now, however, his daughter was up against a being whose power was unknown. He wanted to suit up and fly in there and take the danger away from her, but he could not. He felt useless, and it was in this uselessness where he felt the urge to drink until he passed out. Fear covered him, he was shaking. His daughter was going to be killed. A feeling of panic that he had not felt since the Battle of New York swept over him. "I can't do anything."

* * *

><p>Loki felt a presence, it was rather unsettling since he was standing in front of the most powerful being in the galaxy. What was more unsettling was that he knew it was Cypra. How she had managed to get here was beyond him, and it wasn't like he could turn around and ask "Hey! How'd you get here?" That would blow her cover.<p>

Fear wasn't an emotion that Loki felt often, he learned to shove it down and replace it with rage as if violence would make it go away, and usually it did. right now however, he was scared,and he couldn't do anything about it.

Thanos chuckled lightly. "Miss Stark," he stood, "so glad you could join us."

* * *

><p>Tony heard a faint clicking sound... something wasn't right. "Jane, Darcy, Selvig, and Pepper." He began. "I want you to get in the jet."<p>

"What?" Jane held the baby closer.

"JARVIS," He called. "Start the Avenjet and get them in the air to safety."

"Yes sir."

"Tony what's going on?" Pepper protested. "What's happening?"

"I'm not sure," The scientist replied. "but I know that you're not going to want to be around for it."

The screens above their heads started playing the German national anthem. This startled Steve into grabbing his shield. "It's HYDRA, get them out of here now." He rushed the civilians to the jet outside.

Almost as if that was the cue, men in black uniforms came crashing through the windows, firing their submachine guns and demanding whatever intel Tony may have had. Screams erupted from the girls as they hurried into the jet which hovered and took off with a roar well before HYDRA could grab them.

Captain America threw his shield sideways, knocking a few men down before they could lay hands on Tony. Natasha fired stinger bullets before someone yanked her short red hair, she then began shooting to kill. Bruce made his way outside before thoroughly destroying Tony's lab shaking and flinging the armed men off of him like insects. The Hulk roared, one which could be heard from 5 blocks distance.

Tony suited up as fast as he could, blasting away those surrounding the portal. He still needed that as a blueprint for the next one. His suit however, took longer to fuse to him then he liked and a stray bullet went through his right side.

He exclaimed in pain and fell to a knee, but he had to protect the research. He staggered up and continued to clear the area, feeling the blood soak through his shirt.

"Stark!" The captain called.

"I'm fine!" He lied. The pain was beginning to reach unbearable.

"Blood loss, critical." The suit informed him. "Seek medical attention immediately."

He ignored the voice and watched as Clint sniped 3 armed men from the ceiling above them. He was always up high somewhere.

The amounts of armed men seemed to never stop, and they were all adept fighters. Tony briefly wondered who had trained them.

Twelve, fourteen minutes later. The Avengers were still at it, trying not to kill anyone, but killing mostly everyone since a few of them would get up and start at it again.

"Blood loss, critical." The voice told him again. "Seek medical attention immediately."

A few flash grenades and heavy fire went off, and that was the end of it. Natasha had shot the last few of them, basically with her eyes closed due to the brightness.

Tony had secured the machine, nothing was missing and most of his notes had been blasted to smithereens. "Blood loss, critical." Tony deactivated the suit and slumped into a chair. "Seek medical attention immediately."

"Stark!" Steve snapped the neck of the man unlucky enough to get himself stuck in a headlock. The body hit the floor with a thump and the Captain rushed over to his friend. "Tony!"

"I'm alright Cap." Tony coughed, and a spray of blood coated his lips. The bullet must have scratched a lung, or possibly punctured it.

"Blood loss critical. Seek medical attention immediately." The suit continued.

"Bruce!" Captain called. This was the first time Steve Rogers had felt true, absolute panic. He didn't like it.

Natasha performed the lullaby and it took Bruce a moment to catch his wits (and grab some pants) before he hustled over to his critically injured friend. "Tony, Tony." The doctor grabbed his head. "Look at me okay? Stay awake, we're going to get you an intensive care unit."

Tony had lost a lot of color and looked to be trying to keep consciousness. Sweat coated his body and blood stained his hands and his right side. "I'll try." He choked out. Blood seeped out of his mouth and dripped onto his shirt.

"Oh shit, Tony." Bruce muttered under his breath as he ripped Tony's blood soaked tee of of his body.

The wound was deep. Blood that looked black, slowly seeped from it.

"Oh man." Hawkeye exclaimed when he saw it. "Get some pressure on that"

"Pressure isn't going to help until you extract the bullet." Natasha pointed to the barely visible chunk of metal lodged in between a couple of Tony's lower ribs.

Bruce grabbed a rag from Tony's desk and said, "Tony this is going to hurt like a bitch but we've got to get this bullet out of you."

Tony nodded slightly, fighting the unconsciousness that threatened to take a hold of him. Bruce stuffed the rag in his mouth. "Bite it."

Bruce ran to a drawer and pulled out a pair of long, surgical tweezers, some gauze and medical tape. "I need a flashlight!"

Cap grabbed the powerful LED flashlight that had been knocked over on Tony's desk. He handed it to Clint who positioned it into the wound. "Jesus." The archer sighed, as he inspected the ghastly wound. He knew there was little chance that Tony would survive this, but he kept his mouth shut.

Bruce raced back over and forced Tony to lean farther back into the chair. Tony caught Steve's eye and he couldn't tell if it was just him or if tears were actually in the soldier's eyes. Steve grabbed Tony's hand instinctively and comforted him. "It's alright. I'm here." He gave a comforting squeeze and used his other hand to stroke his hair gently. "I'm here." He was trying to hold the tears back, trying to hold his voice steady. He had to be strong, because Tony had been strong for him all these years when he was trying to adjust to this new world. Tony had been strong for him when he'd broke down because he missed Peggy. Or because he didn't understand how to use a phone, or the coffee machine.

Bruce gently entered the wound with the tweezers and managed to grip the bullet. Tony cried out in pain, partially muffled by the bullet.

Cap hated seeing that. Something broke inside of him and he realized that his emotions for Tony were stronger than he thought. He desperately just wanted to take that pain away. He wanted to wrap the man in his arms and hold him like he did the other night. Was it last night? He couldn't remember. His mind flipped back to the dreams, both day and night. The kiss, the smell of his cologne, Tony's sweet pleasured sighs in his ear. He wanted to turn back time somehow.

But alas he could not, and Tony writhed in unbearable pain as the bullet was removed and finally lost consciousness. Steve gripped his limp hand as tears threatened to fall to his cheeks.

"Steve and Natasha." Bruce ordered. "Get the jet to land at Cornell*, make sure the baby is okay and meet us there."

Steve nodded. "JARVIS! Autopilot the Jet to Cornell surgical hospital."

"Yes si-sir." JARVIS stuttered. Either the speaker or his software had been injured during the fight.

Steve unlocked the small garage outside with his eye and hopped on his motorcycle, Natasha sat behind him, gripping his waist gently. The motorcycle had been adjusted to a hover mode which allowed Steve to get to the ground with safety or rocket boost his way to wherever he needed, that was rather helpful for the height they were at.

The captain locked his feet and the bike took off into the air. Clint's bike followed behind them Bruce holding the bleeding Tony as still but as firm as possible.

It would be a miracle if someone could save Tony's life. And although nobody would admit it, everyone was thinking it.

***NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center Hospital is the #1 ranked Hospital in the New York area mastering 15 different specialties! I wanted the very best for Tony. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey guys! I'm back. Just a reminder, I really need yall to review this story, otherwise I don't know how to expand my writing. I need to know whether you like it or not, or your thoughts on the story, any opinion is perfectly valid and I would love to hear them! Please feels free to PM me anytime about anything, and I need a Beta reader; if anyone is interested please PM me also!Thanks! And enjoy the last chapter!**

Loki felt a strange sinking feeling in his chest, almost like the impending doom he always felt when he was locked up in here. Thor's eyes widened as the girl revealed herself. She was going to get herself killed.

"Glad to be here." Cypra sighed and smiled as she approached the overlord in slight amusement.

"So I assume you are here to free the gods?"

"Loki, when the moment is right I need you to throw the ring around your neck at Thanos." Cypra told the god through telepathy. She didn't do it very often

"What? Why?" Loki questioned.

"Please just trust me." Cypra demanded. "Odin and the Warriors 3 will be here soon."

With a quick jolt of energy Thanos attempted to throw Cypra to the side, but she resisted it with a smile. "I'm a bit more powerful now, hun." A wave of deafening energy reverberated through the Throne room and shattered every glass object in the vicinity, and knocking every other being in the room down to their knees. The crystal shards of glass from the million year old windows blasted outwards, and then as if time had paused for a minute they stopped and imploded, circulating Cypra in swirls. In an instant she launched the deadly shards of glass at Thanos well over 300 miles an hour. They bounced off of him like nothing, but a few managed to cut his face. Guards started pouring in through the door, beginning to attack Thor and Loki.

Loki used magic to break the chains that held him and then broke the chains on Thor who immediately began trying to summon Mjolnir but was struggling. Where had his hammer gone?

Cypra's eyes turned that whitish color and any object in her power's reach was now a weapon against the dark lord. Wood and stone rods raced towards him while heavy curtains attempted to restrain him. Any magic he put forth was deflected and used against him.

Thanos finally resulted into melee fighting, grabbing an old but very powerful sword behind the throne. He laughed menacingly as Cypra had to use magic to summon one, and that took energy. After a few minutes, her nose began to bleed, signaling the exhaustion of concentration and energy. They dueled and parried, both seemingly matched in skill until Cypra could hold the magic no longer. She fainted and fell to the floor, only catching a glimpse of Thanos hovering above her.

Thor had finally gained access to Mjolnir and threw the holy hammer at Thanos, knocking him into the wall with such force that the chandeliers came crashing down from the ceiling above. Loki stopped one from hitting Cypra with his magic before having to do the same thing for Thor. He killed the guards closest to him and began advancing towards Cypra as quick as he could. Thanos had stood back up and threw a knife at the unconscious girl, but it stopped in mid air. at last Loki was face to face with Thanos, and it would be his magic against the overlord.

The ground shook violently and a voice more thunderous than Thor spoke, "Thanos! Enough of this!"

The dark lord fell to one knee and looked up with a bit of surprise on his face. The cavalry had finally come. Odin, Sif, and the warriors 3 took out the remaining guards and threw everything they could at Thanos. It wasn't hard for him to deflect, block or simply destroy the magic or weapons that they summoned, but Loki noticed that he was distracted. Cypra's words echoed in his head, but he was too far. As more guards came in, he fought them vigorously, managing to grab Cypra and bring her to a place of safety under some tables. She'd wake up in a bit. He grabbed the heavy weapons at her side and blasted away, feeling a sense of fun he hadn't felt in a long time.

Suddenly time seemed to stand still, everything was in slow motion and Loki felt that in his heart this was it. It was over. He yanked the chain off of his neck and threw it with all his might. There was a white light, and then it was done. Thanos stood like a statue in mid swing. The ring and chain dropped to the floor. He was in shock. The ring, his ring, was the eilíftsteinn.

As Loki had assumed, Cypra woke up and released hell. Not a single opponent survived, and Odin and the rest managed to evade the attack, Loki just absorbed the energy from it. She had a funny way of going about attacking people. They could drop dead with a snap of her fingers, but she refused that because she claimed that it wouldn't help her training. She wanted long, drawn out battles. They empowered her.

The young girl stood exhausted, bloody nose, cut up, and pissed off. "We done here?' She asked ironically. "Cuz I'm fucking done here."

"Yes, I will call for a crew to put him into isolation." Odin nodded. "Good work…" Even he was a bit shaken up at what had happened.

Immediately Cypra knew there was something VERY wrong when she landed at the Cornell hospital. Steve was actually crying, but wiped his eyes quickly and stood up as she entered the waiting room with Thor and Loki behind her. There was hugs and crying, and shock amongst the crowd of heroes and scientists. Leiknir cried miserably when Loki held him again. He had missed his parent.

"What the hell happened to you guys?" Cypra asked, looking at the semi-rattled, semi-bleeding, team of avengers.

"HYDRA." Cap answered her.

"Where is my dad?" Cypra looked around the room; he was missing.

There was a silence, the kind of silence there is in those movies when something terrible and unimaginable has happened.

"HYDRA shot him. He's in emergency surgery." Clint replied solemnly.

"What do you mean HYDRA shot him." She scoffed. "The suit is bulletproof."

"Baby, they shot him before he could get it all the way on." Pepper explained softly.

Cypra felt as if the eyes of the whole world were on her. She tried to keep from crying, but she couldn't. She wanted her daddy. She wanted to show him that she was alive and that she loved him. She collapsed in Pepper's arms and cried without control. She was breaking. Everything was breaking.

"What about Thanos?" Natasha asked.

"We got him." Loki told her. "Cypra brought Odin and Thor's friends. She provided us with a way out." He glanced at her lovingly, but with sadness. "He's immobilized, he'll be moved to a maximum security prison on Elvheim. One that is run by the most powerful magic in all of the nine realms."

The assassin nodded, looking at the ground.

The doctor came in, and again the room fell silent. "Against all odds, he'll live." He announced. "He will be in intensive care for a few weeks, but he will live."

An almost nauseating wave of relief washed over the group.

"Can I see him?" Cypra asked. "Is he awake."

"I'm afraid not sweetheart. We need to make sure his vitals can stay stable before we allow any visitors." The physician replied. "Look, I never believed in miracles, but lemme tell you." He shook his head. "That was one."

Throughout the weeks, Tony became more and more active, and was finally allowed some visitors. What was funny was that the press hadn't a clue what had happened. Pepper explained it as an accident, but nothing more. The lab was repaired. Leiknir puked less. And Tony and Steve could finally start building a relationship. It was going to be difficult though, Tony wasn't allowed much physical contact, but Cap managed to sneak a kiss in here and there.

**Elvheim**:

Marty was used to doing his rounds. Always the same everyday. Check all the prisoners. Report it if they were injured or dead. When he reached Thanos' cage however, there was a soft rumbling, he peered through the tiny window and saw the unimaginable. Thanos was

gone.

**Yay all done! Stay tuned for the next Avengers story! Please R&R!**


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